Cassa Depositi e Prestiti s.p.a. is a public company owned at 30% by 65 banking foundations and at 70% by the Italian Treasury Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze. CDP owns the shares of public firms, after the privatization process that started in 1994.

The governance of CDP is described in details in its institutional page, but it is relevant to underline that the Parliament holds a control power on it. According to the balance sheet of 2017, it has € 304 billions assets and € 2.2 net profits.

In Europe, France and Germany have similar public financial institutions (KfW Bankengruppe and Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC)).